The "One Club" Tournament, Grand Slam Style

What chambering for all 29 North American Big Game with one rifle?

  • Total voters
    206
The 7mm rem mag is sufficient, but I'd like a bit more bullet width on the big fur.
So the last one on the list would be my choice.

Or the missing one, the .308 NM.................:cool:
 
This appears to be just another way of posing the old "If I could only have one . . . " question. Handloads provide versatility to the rifle, regardless of chambering, but due to the restrictions placed on Yukon bison, a .30/06 or a very heavily loaded .308 are near the minimum, so lesser cartridges are non-starters. The high velocity .300s can be be downloaded to appropriate levels for smaller species such as antelope that would be badly torn up by high velocity 7mm and .300s loads, but these cartridges need long barrels to make full use of their velocity potential.

When thinking about a rifle that's suitable in all circumstances, compactness, and light weight are desirable features. Therefore I think the one gun North American hunter, like his counterpart who wanders the world, could do much worse than a flat shooting, hard hitting .375; the particular cartridge being less important than the bore size, since in my experience that bore size is not significantly diminished when mated to a short barrel. Of course one might like to avoid a 12 pound rifle while scampering across scree slopes at 6000' and a 7.5 pound .375 might normally be more than some can enjoy, but I have loaded some discontinued 260 gr Ballistic Tips to 2600 fps for a similar purpose, resulting in a mild mannered load that won't knock you off the mountain, even in a light rifle.
 
9.3x62 nothing new lol ... and with two loads and 2 scopes a lot can be done ...

as Mike said 7mms are out of option due to our rules.

but if we can have only 1 rifle world will be sad ...
 
You can hunt wood bison in BC and Alberta as well, BC has a legal minimum of 2000ft-lbs of retained energy at 100 yards and 175gr or higher bullet weight. Tough on .270s but the rest manage.

Boomer has a good point it would have to be light, as much of the 29 is mountain game with backpacks and boots.
 
Ardent said:
You can hunt wood bison in BC and Alberta as well, BC has a legal minimum of 2000ft-lbs of retained energy at 100 yards and 175gr or higher bullet weight. Tough on .270s but the rest manage.

Boomer has a good point it would have to be light, as much of the 29 is mountain game with backpacks and boots.
Click to expand...

then 30-06 is good for all ...
 
PatchRat said:
I'm going to be super boring here and say 7 rem mag. Some might say it's not enough gun for the real big stuff, but I've seen several large bison go down with one shot. A few got back up, but they were the exception, not the rule. If I had to pick a rifle platform, I would go with the Ruger no1 just to keep it classy.
Click to expand...

Ever run any 7RM factory ammo over a chrony? It's not the gun a lot of people think.
 
MiG25 said:
Ever run any 7RM factory ammo over a chrony? It's not the gun a lot of people think.
Click to expand...

Many, and she's bloody fast at 110/120gr, and kicks the crud out of my 7x57 at 175grs. Not sure what folks think it is, I think it's a .270 (also a fantastic cartridge) on juice that can sling equally light bullets, better, or heavier, significantly better. And it's on every dusty home hardware shelf. What's it supposed to be? ;)
 
Ardent said:
Many, and she's bloody fast at 110/120gr, and kicks the crud out of my 7x57 at 175grs. Not sure what folks think it is, I think it's a .270 (also a fantastic cartridge) on juice that can sling equally light bullets, better, or heavier, significantly better. And it's on every dusty home hardware shelf. What's it supposed to be? ;)
Click to expand...

It's a 30-06 that burns a lot more powder and kicks more to do the same thing.

My 8x57 can equal the heavy factory 7RM loads I chrono'ed.
 
MiG25 said:
It's a 30-06 that burns a lot more powder and kicks more to do the same thing.

My 8x57 can equal the heavy factory 7RM loads I chrono'ed.
Click to expand...

You actually bring up an interesting point many miss, another uncomfortable truth in hunting rifles for instance is the .308 shoots flatter at all hunting ranges (out to 400) than the 7mm-08 when you match bullet weights. It's more efficient, the greater expansion ratio is more important than the 7's better BC. .30-06 / 7 Mag sees this too without sharing a case. But I digress...

You are off on a couple important points though in my eyes. The 7mm Rem Mag often loads the same powder weights as the .30-06, for instance most conventional powders (non-retumbo etc) load about 60grs in each with a 150gr bullet. If you compress in a bunch of retumbo, the 7 Mag opens a lead on the -06, but this isn't factory as you referred to in fairness. The 7 Mag kicks exactly like a .30-06, and anyone who tries to tell you one's a shove one's a punch hasn't owned and loaded for both side by side for any appreciably period of time. They're identical in recoil, powder burn's so close it's negligible too, but the 7 Mag handles the light spectrum to be a better .270 for sheep, mountain goat, and antelope nicer. If you believe in SD it's better off than the -06 until the -06 goes over 200grs and gets slow, too. I'm not so much a believer in that anymore.

.30-06 is great with zero faults as a NA29 rifle, and so is 7 Mag. I just like the 7 Mag's tool box & sleeve tricks better for mountain work.
 
Ardent said:
You actually bring up an interesting point many miss, another uncomfortable truth in hunting rifles for instance is the .308 shoots flatter at all hunting ranges (out to 400) than the 7mm-08 when you match bullet weights. It's more efficient, the greater expansion ratio is more important than the 7's better BC. .30-06 / 7 Mag sees this too without sharing a case. But I digress...

You are off on a couple important points though in my eyes. The 7mm Rem Mag often loads the same powder weights as the .30-06, for instance most conventional powders (non-retumbo etc) load about 60grs in each with a 150gr bullet. If you compress in a bunch of retumbo, the 7 Mag opens a lead on the -06, but this isn't factory as you referred to in fairness. The 7 Mag kicks exactly like a .30-06, and anyone who tries to tell you one's a shove one's a punch hasn't owned and loaded for both side by side for any appreciably period of time. They're identical in recoil, powder burn's so close it's negligible too, but the 7 Mag handles the light spectrum to be a better .270 for sheep, mountain goat, and antelope nicer. If you believe in SD it's better off than the -06 until the -06 goes over 200grs and gets slow, too. I'm not so much a believer in that anymore.

.30-06 is great with zero faults as a NA29 rifle, and so is 7 Mag. I just like the 7 Mag's tool box & sleeve tricks better for mountain work.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your infatuation with the 270 was short lived and the 7RM is the new flame. ;)
 
Ardent said:
You actually bring up an interesting point many miss, another uncomfortable truth in hunting rifles for instance is the .308 shoots flatter at all hunting ranges (out to 400) than the 7mm-08 when you match bullet weights. It's more efficient, the greater expansion ratio is more important than the 7's better BC. .30-06 / 7 Mag sees this too without sharing a case. But I digress...

You are off on a couple important points though in my eyes. The 7mm Rem Mag often loads the same powder weights as the .30-06, for instance most conventional powders (non-retumbo etc) load about 60grs in each with a 150gr bullet. If you compress in a bunch of retumbo, the 7 Mag opens a lead on the -06, but this isn't factory as you referred to in fairness. The 7 Mag kicks exactly like a .30-06, and anyone who tries to tell you one's a shove one's a punch hasn't owned and loaded for both side by side for any appreciably period of time. They're identical in recoil, powder burn's so close it's negligible too, but the 7 Mag handles the light spectrum to be a better .270 for sheep, mountain goat, and antelope nicer. If you believe in SD it's better off than the -06 until the -06 goes over 200grs and gets slow, too. I'm not so much a believer in that anymore.

.30-06 is great with zero faults as a NA29 rifle, and so is 7 Mag. I just like the 7 Mag's tool box & sleeve tricks better for mountain work.
Click to expand...

I agree that they are both excellent choices.

What happens when you dump the same charge of the same powder with the same bullet weight into the 7RM and 30-06?

At the top end the 7RM burns about 10 grains more powder to accomplish the same thing. That's 15% or more powder, that energy is going somewhere, ie: into your shoulder. My shoulder tells me the 7RM kicks more.

It is a bit of a hobby of mine seeing what is on store shelves, the selection of 7RM ammo is always smaller and pricier than 30-06.

I think we all know the answer to the original question is 300 Mag if you can take the recoil, 30-06 if you can't.
 
MiG25 said:
I agree that they are both excellent choices.

What happens when you dump the same charge of the same powder with the same bullet weight into the 7RM and 30-06?

At the top end the 7RM burns about 10 grains more powder to accomplish the same thing. That's 15% or more powder, that energy is going somewhere, ie: into your shoulder. My shoulder tells me the 7RM kicks more.

It is a bit of a hobby of mine seeing what is on store shelves, the selection of 7RM ammo is always smaller and pricier than 30-06.

I think we all know the answer to the original question is 300 Mag if you can take the recoil, 30-06 if you can't.
Click to expand...

Nothing too outlandish in either direction. 7 Mag first at 180gr with 780, and .30-06 second, same barrel lengths. A 180 from a 7 Mag will needless to say fly better thanks to the BC. You have to look for them to find loads that are 10 grains apart, loaded and shot a truckload of each. The 7 averages about 5grs more powder, generally slings a lighter bullet, which equals identical recoil. The 7 Mag compares well on similar powder charges because it runs at higher pressure, about equalling out the .30-06s better expansion ratio being a bigger bore. The 7mms BCs and ability to shoot lighter bullets better then takes the cake as a hunting rig for mountains for me.


 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom